Poppy's Patties Parmigiana

I'm on my own for cooking this month. Usually, I'm also cooking for someone else who would not appreciate (to put it mildly) vintage recipes. Since I'm on my own, I'm going to occasionally half-assedly reinterpret vintage recipes that don't sound terrible. (Reinterpret means I want them to be veg-friendly and serve one. I don't want to deal with leftovers if I accidentally pick something that is terrible, plus I can do more experimenting this way.)

So here is my first experiment, from Betty Crocker's 4 in 1 Cookbook Collection's Hamburger Cookbook (1977) chapter:

Patties Parmigiana sound pretty tasty: seasoned burger with a cornflake-and-Parm coating, smothered in tomato sauce. I was going to try it.

With my modifications to serve one and be veg:

1 tsp. oil
1/4 roll of Gimme Lean veggie sausage
Poppy's sausage seasoning mix (oregano, basil, fennel seeds, nutritional yeast, black pepper, sage, red pepper flakes-- I just eyeball the amounts.)
1 egg, beaten
some crushed cornflakes
some finely shredded Parmesan
1/3 c. petite diced tomatoes (I meant to use tomato sauce like the recipe specified, but I was out!)
1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 slice pepperjack (I didn't have sliced mozzarella, and I like a little heat.)

Heat oil in small nonstick skillet over medium heat. Meanwhile, mix cornflakes and Parmesan in a small flat container, and separately mix Gimme Lean with seasonings. Form into a patty. Dip into egg, then coat with crumb mixture. Brown patty in oil, turning once.

Mix tomatoes and Italian seasoning. Pour over patty in skillet. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Top patty with cheese slice' cover and heat until cheese is melted.

This is how it turned out:

I served it over pasta with some steamed vegetables, and it was delicious!

It seemed weird to me to cook the patty in the tomatoes, though, as the yummy golden crust got soggy and seemed to melt away from being cooked with sauce. I'm thinking of trying this again, but taking it out of the pan after browning the patty on its own. It would probably be damn tasty on its own, or maybe in a sandwich with a little pizza sauce on top, so there would still be a contrast with the crispy bottom.

If I try it that way, I'll let you know, but there are still a few other recipes I want to try in Betty Crocker's Hamburger Cookbook. I still have 3/4 of a roll of Gimme Lean!